Welcome Back, Hitsugaya
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: Toshiro suffers from a terrible nightmare. One only his former captain can wake him from. - Set in the canon/'Toshiro-Has-A-Hollow' universe.


**Bleach Oneshot**

**Welcome Back, Hitsugaya**

**Angst**

**Toshiro, OC, Isshin**

**Toshiro suffers from a terrible nightmare. One only his former captain can wake him from. - Set in the canon/'Toshiro-Has-A-Hollow' universe.**

**(Is it possible to claim a character if the mangaka kills them off?)**

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Welcome Back, Hitsugaya

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Toshiro's hands were clapped over his ears. His Inner World, once peaceful and quiet, was now a place of screams and horrible winds. Winds so powerful, they could blow him off his feet if he was caught off his guard. Thus, he was forced to sit against the mountainside, doing little more in waiting out the storm.

The storm of his soul.

His body had been forced to move against his will, attacking his fellow Soul Reapers. He mentally begged everybody to run away from him; to flee before he hurt them.

But it was all in vain.

They couldn't hear his cries. The wind blocked them out.

Just like when he was a child...

"**_Master! Master!_**"

Toshiro could only shake his head, the calling of his Zanpakuto falling on deaf ears once again. "Hyourinmaru," he choked out. "I can't...I can't hear you."

Hyourinmaru simply looked on, his wings outspread. "**_Master..._**"

Then the winds concealed his form, shielding him from everything.

Toshiro clamped his hands even more.

He could hear nothing, for his ears were covered.

He could see nothing, for his eyes were shut.

He could feel nobody...

He was alone.

For a while, that's all he was. Alone. Trapped in his Inner World, with no hope of escaping so long as Giselle had him zombified like that.

"_Hey. You're not going to sulk like that forever, are you, Aibou?"_

Toshiro's fingers twitched. Despite the fact that his ears were covered and the wind that blew past him smothered all sounds, he was still able to hear a voice in his world. Strange.

But even stranger was that it wasn't Hyourinmaru. He knew the voice of the ice dragon. Knew it rather well. That wasn't him. Not in any way.

"_Hey. Aibou. Get off your rear before I make you. I don't like talking to people while they're cowering like children._"

Slowly, Toshiro lifted his hands and raised his head.

Then his eyes widened.

"Y-You-!"

A snake-like grin crossed a pale white face. "_Glad to see you remembered me,_" he said, "_Aibou._"

Paper-white skin and hair.

Teal and black eyes.

"It's you," Toshiro growled. "My Inner Hollow."

White Toshiro only chuckled and folded his arms, his hair being blown by the heavy winds. "_Yo,_" he said. "_You look terrible, Little Shiro._"

Toshiro let out a grunt and stood up. "What are you doing here?" he asked in frustration. "I thought you were taken care of after I achieved Bankai."

"_Oh, come now,"_ White Toshiro said with a pout. "_Did you really think achieving Bankai was all it would take to get rid of me? All that did was put me to sleep. At least until you ate that Shin'eiyaku stuff. It Hollowfied you, or did you forget?It was a crazy thing to wake up to, but I was happy to hear that you needed me again._"

"Well, I don't need you!" Toshiro snapped, raising his voice to be better heard. "So go scurry back to whatever hole you came out of!"

_"__I'm almost hurt, Aibou. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't like me._"

"Took you long enough to figure it out."

"_Oh. Touchy, touchy."_ White Toshiro then looked to the skies. "_It's been pretty quiet out in the Soul Society, don't you think?_"

"What's your point?" Toshiro asked.

White Toshiro grinned. "_Maybe you made Mayuri croak._"

Toshiro gulped down the bile that came with the thought. He didn't have much respect for Mayuri, but he dreaded the thought of having a captain's blood on his hands.

He'd feel like he became Aizen, who murdered Gin in cold blood.

"Kurotsuchi isn't the type to get killed so easily," Toshiro finally said. "If he did get hurt, he's probably fled by now."

"_You so sure of that?_"

Mostly, but not entirely. Not that Toshiro was about to mention it.

"_I'd love to find out if that quack is still alive. And maybe thank that girl for giving me a golden opportunity._"

"Golden opportunity?" Toshiro repeated.

"_Yeah._"

Suddenly, White Toshiro spun around, his fingers wrapping around Toshiro's throat. In the blink of an eye, Toshiro was thrown against the wall, coughing up any air that was in his lungs as he looked his assailant in the eye.

"_Because Quincies don't like Hollows,_" White Toshiro explained, "_if I come out and your body Hollowfies, she'll have no choice but to let you go. And then,_" his grin increased; "_I'll be able to roam free for a while."_

"N-No," Toshiro choked, his hands gripping at the Hollow's wrists. "I won't...let you."

"_Do you even have a choice?_" White Toshiro asked in response. "_You can't stop me from escaping here. Not even Hyourinmaru can!"_

He then tightened his grip on Toshiro's neck, forcing another cough to erupt from his lungs.

"_Don't worry, Aibou,_" White Toshiro continued. "_I'm not going to kill you. I need you alive in order to take over your body. But I'd like to enjoy myself outside for a while, so I'm gonna need you to take a long nap._"

Toshiro's grip on the Hollow's wrists was beginning to weaken.

"I-It's no use," Toshiro thought wearily. "I-I can't... I...can't..."

"_I should really give those Quincies a thanks. Because they wore you down, it only makes things easier."_

Toshiro's ears were beginning to ring violently. Forget hearing his own raspy breathing. He could barely hear the wind around him. "N-No," he thought. "This...can't...happen. I didn't...become a captain...just to have...this **monster** take control."

"**_Now that's what I was waiting to hear, Toshiro._**"

Two sets of eyes widened and a large hand appeared from within the mountainside.

"_What the-!?_" White Toshiro exclaimed.

The hand grabbed hold of Toshiro's shihakusho, sending a jolt up the boy captain's spine.

"**_Come on, Toshiro,_**" the voice said. "**_It's time to wake up now._**"

Without a breath, Toshiro was then pulled into the mountain, the entire world going black.

The only thing he could hear before remembered no more was, "_Blast! Not him again!"_

* * *

The world was dark. Everything had been painted ebony.

Was he dreaming? Sleeping?

Or was he dead?

"Where am I?" Toshiro thought to himself. "What's...going on? It's all so quiet, I can't tell."

"**Toshiro.**"

Toshiro felt as if he was curled in on himself. "Oh. That's right. I was...trying to save Rangiku. But I...I only succeeded in bringing more pain."

"**Hey. Toshiro.**"

"Captain Shiba... What am I...supposed to do now? I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"**How about you wake up for starters? Come on. You've had a long enough nap, Toshiro.**"

"Captain Shiba?"

Toshiro opened his eyes a little bit, the world instantly brightening up. It was almost too blinding for him, but he quickly adapted to it after a few blinks.

The sky was a deep orange. The sun was beginning to set. That was good in itself, but all it succeeded in doing was giving Toshiro a headache. Not to mention, he had a strange taste of bile in his throat.

And...he felt strangely light for some reason.

"Where am I?" he asked himself.

"Hey. It's about time you woke up."

Toshiro could feel his blood freeze over.

That voice. He recognized it.

Slowly turning his head to the side, he not only found the source of the voice, but the reason he felt so light in the first place.

He was being carried.

By Isshin Kurosaki.

"Hey, Toshiro," Isshin said with a grin.

Toshiro's eyes widened as he tried to figure out whether or not he was dreaming. "Captain...Shiba?" he asked under his breath.

Isshin grinned even more. "Yep," he said. "It's me. Good to see you again, Toshiro. Hey. Is it just me or have you grown a couple of inches since I last saw you?"

"Am I...dead?" Toshiro asked. "Or is this a dream?"

"Nope, this ain't a dream, Toshiro."

Toshiro almost didn't believe his former captain until he landed on one of the rooftops and sent a jolt up his spine. "Gah," Toshiro exclaimed, biting down on his lip to keep from crying out even more.

It felt like somebody had smacked his back with the flat of their sword. And maybe cracked a rib or three.

"Sorry," Isshin said. "Forgot to mention that Mayuri had to give you a pretty good beating before he was able to turn you back."

"Turn me back?" Toshiro asked, raising his tired eyes to his former captain.

"Did you forget?" Isshin asked in disbelief. "You were a Soul Reaper zombie for a while. Knocked out Yumichika and injured Ikkaku pretty badly before you gave Mayuri a bit of a beating too."

Toshiro began to feel ill as the memories flooded his head. His hands were shaking enough from using Hyourinmaru to hurt his fellow Soul Reapers without adding the memories of what he did. Strange. Even though he had no will and was trapped in his Inner World for so long, he could still remember those atrocities as if they were his own.

"You should try to thank Mayuri though, Toshiro," Isshin said. "He gave you a funny medicine and that managed to save your neck."

So that's where that taste of bile came from. "Ugh," Toshiro mentally groaned. "I don't think I wanna know."

Then he audibly said, "How are they faring? Did I...kill them?"

"I think I'll let you figure that out when you get better," Isshin said. "You didn't kill them, but I don't want you to just get upset and blame yourself for something you didn't do on your own volition. Can't have that when you're convalescing."

Toshiro simply nodded a bit. "Alright," he said under his breath.

All was silent for a minute as Isshin continued to take Toshiro to Squad Four.

"Captain Shiba?" Toshiro asked suddenly.

"I ain't a captain anymore," Isshin said jovially. "Just Isshin is fine."

"Captain," Toshiro repeated, stopping Isshin mid-Shunpo. His head was hung low, preventing his captain from seeing his face. "Where...were you this whole time?"

Isshin paused. Then he smiled a little bit and got back to running. "Well, it's a long story, Toshiro," he said. "I'll tell you the whole thing later."

Those words, though Isshin didn't know it, brought a smile out of the small captain. "I see," he breathed. "You'd better not...run off for another twenty years without telling us." His eyes closed and his mind was fleeing into its imagination. "Baka-Taicho."

Isshin smiled as Toshiro fell asleep in his arms. "I think that's the first time since you joined the Squads that you decided to call me that," he said. "I should give you a spanking when you wake up, Toshiro."

Though he said those words, they were not very effective for several reasons.

He was already happy to see his former Third Seat again.

And Toshiro looked astonishingly like Ichigo used to look like when he was sleeping. Childishly cute.

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**D.T.B: [can hear crickets in the background] How many people want Isshin to save Toshiro's neck? Please review, but no flames. If I get enough reviews here – maybe five – I'll try and write the prequel to this, which is how Isshin knew Toshiro was in trouble and chose to go back to the Soul Society to save him.**


End file.
